Day One: Hey Mom! Hi Dad! Hello Bro! Wish you could come with me, I’ve heard that everything is going to be much more advanced there. It’s almost like time travelling (and that’s not with the jet lag haha!)! I’m going to take as many pictures and videos as I can to keep everyone up to date. And I promise that I’ll keep updating this blog every day with the things that I learn and see that I think you’d get a kick out of.
Bradley sipped his water and stared at the words he had written, wondering if anything had been left out. Looking out over the pacific ocean, and then back at the interior of the vast flying machine conveying him through the air at a leisurely 350 miles per hour he shook his head and went back to typing.
Brad’s Journey; Aside #1: Mag-Plane Transportation! The trip through Fresno International airport was surprisingly quick. Lines weren’t very long for 3AM ;D. And the Mag-Planes themselves are really crazy amazing. Super quiet, and they don’t rock half as much as jets! Here’s a picture.
He took another moment to check them for spelling and then pinched the frame on his glasses, recording a short snippet of the interior of the magnetically powered dirigible. Satisfied with his work, Brad reclined in his chair and fell asleep to the light thrum of the air purifiers and the slightest of warm breezes coming from the overhead fan.
Three hours later, Brad was up and walking through the Seoul airport terminals. Backpack on his shoulders, and messenger bag over his shoulder, he felt like he could take on the entire world.
Despite the truly daunting task living out his first semester of senior year far from the California Entertainment and Technologies campus he had come to know and love, Brad couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing the application of all the games technology his professors had only spoken about in lectures. The idea that somewhere out there, people were playing games that their own brains made real? That people could just blend their perception into signals and redistribute them to experience anything imagineable? Purely fantastical. The stuff of science fiction! And to be here in person? All he could do was thank his lucky stars that his name was picked out of the foreign exchange lottery instead of someone else. Plenty of his C.E.T. friends had told him they’d sell their kidneys if it meant getting into New Korea.
That thought held on the longest when he collided with a painful ‘Crack!’ into someone who had suddenly exited from a door beside him.
When he opened his eyes again, he was face to face with an airport safety official. The stern looking man spoke at him rapidfire, and when Brad didn’t answer him with anything aside from bleary-eyed confusion he grew calmer. As Brad tried to stand up, the guard placed his hand on his shoulder and motioned for him to remain still. After a second or two of rummaging, the man handed him a small ear-bud and motioned for him to put it in as he did the same. This time, when Brad tried to stand up the man grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.
“Thank you.” Said Brad reflexively, still dazed from the collision.
“You’re welcome” Replied the safety officer, smiling apologetically down at him. “My name is Chulsoon, and I’d like to welcome you to Seoul. I hope you can forgive the rudeness of this fellow passenger. He was in such a hurry that he neglected to look both ways” Chulsoon waved a hand at the prone form of a korean man in a business suit being administered to by two other safety officials.
Brad put his hand to his aching head and then to his ear. He furrowed his brow in confusion. “When you talked to me the first time, I couldn’t understand you. Is this a translator?” Brad asked, incredulously.
Chulsoon laughed. “Yes. Which means that this must be your first time in Korea.” The safety officer handed Brad his bags and tapped his own head. “Try to be careful as well. I don’t want to hear about some American boy getting hurt in tomorrow's news alright?”
Brad rubbed his forehead and nodded, hoping he’d be able to find his host family before anything more embarrassing happens. Tugging on his ear, another thought occurred to him.
“Chulsoon! Do I need to return this to you?” Brad pointed at the device in his ear.
The safety officer shook his head and called back to him as he walked away. “Complimentary for foreign visitors. Keep it clean and throw it out when you leave.” He waved a hand dismissively and then vanished behind a luggage trolley.
Alone with his thoughts again.
Brad rubbed his head and looked around. The vast airport bustled with the sounds of travel anxiety and excitement. Screens and three dimensional holographic displays showed in real time the paths of foot traffic, the locations of stores and the arrival times of all the planes. The reality of the situation slowly came back to him. The vastness of the airport, the wonderful strangeness of being somewhere halfway around the world; Brad felt the giddiness coming back to him.
This was his adventure. Taking out his crumpled brochure from his pocket he plotted the path for this weekend. Would he go to the skyscraper aquarium, the Nautilus Fisheries? The glittering center of commerce in Cheongdong Mall? All there, and he had a full semester to explore.
Bradley sipped his water and stared at the words he had written, wondering if anything had been left out. Looking out over the pacific ocean, and then back at the interior of the vast flying machine conveying him through the air at a leisurely 350 miles per hour he shook his head and went back to typing.
Brad’s Journey; Aside #1: Mag-Plane Transportation!
The trip through Fresno International airport was surprisingly quick. Lines weren’t very long for 3AM ;D. And the Mag-Planes themselves are really crazy amazing. Super quiet, and they don’t rock half as much as jets! Here’s a picture.
He took another moment to check them for spelling and then pinched the frame on his glasses, recording a short snippet of the interior of the magnetically powered dirigible. Satisfied with his work, Brad reclined in his chair and fell asleep to the light thrum of the air purifiers and the slightest of warm breezes coming from the overhead fan.
Three hours later, Brad was up and walking through the Seoul airport terminals. Backpack on his shoulders, and messenger bag over his shoulder, he felt like he could take on the entire world.
Despite the truly daunting task living out his first semester of senior year far from the California Entertainment and Technologies campus he had come to know and love, Brad couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing the application of all the games technology his professors had only spoken about in lectures. The idea that somewhere out there, people were playing games that their own brains made real? That people could just blend their perception into signals and redistribute them to experience anything imagineable? Purely fantastical. The stuff of science fiction! And to be here in person? All he could do was thank his lucky stars that his name was picked out of the foreign exchange lottery instead of someone else. Plenty of his C.E.T. friends had told him they’d sell their kidneys if it meant getting into New Korea.
That thought held on the longest when he collided with a painful ‘Crack!’ into someone who had suddenly exited from a door beside him.
When he opened his eyes again, he was face to face with an airport safety official. The stern looking man spoke at him rapidfire, and when Brad didn’t answer him with anything aside from bleary-eyed confusion he grew calmer. As Brad tried to stand up, the guard placed his hand on his shoulder and motioned for him to remain still. After a second or two of rummaging, the man handed him a small ear-bud and motioned for him to put it in as he did the same.
This time, when Brad tried to stand up the man grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.
“Thank you.” Said Brad reflexively, still dazed from the collision.
“You’re welcome” Replied the safety officer, smiling apologetically down at him. “My name is Chulsoon, and I’d like to welcome you to Seoul. I hope you can forgive the rudeness of this fellow passenger. He was in such a hurry that he neglected to look both ways” Chulsoon waved a hand at the prone form of a korean man in a business suit being administered to by two other safety officials.
Brad put his hand to his aching head and then to his ear. He furrowed his brow in confusion. “When you talked to me the first time, I couldn’t understand you. Is this a translator?” Brad asked, incredulously.
Chulsoon laughed. “Yes. Which means that this must be your first time in Korea.” The safety officer handed Brad his bags and tapped his own head. “Try to be careful as well. I don’t want to hear about some American boy getting hurt in tomorrow's news alright?”
Brad rubbed his forehead and nodded, hoping he’d be able to find his host family before anything more embarrassing happens. Tugging on his ear, another thought occurred to him.
“Chulsoon! Do I need to return this to you?” Brad pointed at the device in his ear.
The safety officer shook his head and called back to him as he walked away. “Complimentary for foreign visitors. Keep it clean and throw it out when you leave.” He waved a hand dismissively and then vanished behind a luggage trolley.
Alone with his thoughts again.
Brad rubbed his head and looked around. The vast airport bustled with the sounds of travel anxiety and excitement. Screens and three dimensional holographic displays showed in real time the paths of foot traffic, the locations of stores and the arrival times of all the planes. The reality of the situation slowly came back to him. The vastness of the airport, the wonderful strangeness of being somewhere halfway around the world; Brad felt the giddiness coming back to him.
This was his adventure. Taking out his crumpled brochure from his pocket he plotted the path for this weekend. Would he go to the skyscraper aquarium, the Nautilus Fisheries? The glittering center of commerce in Cheongdong Mall? All there, and he had a full semester to explore.